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From: etan@tellab1.UUCP (Nate Stelton)
Newsgroups: net.music
Subject: mini reviews
Message-ID: <600@tellab1.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 26-Sep-85 18:19:58 EDT
Article-I.D.: tellab1.600
Posted: Thu Sep 26 18:19:58 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 29-Sep-85 04:46:52 EDT
Reply-To: etan@tellab3.UUCP (Nate Stelton)
Organization: Tellabs, Inc., Lisle, IL
Lines: 58


                              Mini Reviews #9


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Dream Into Action -- Howard Jones

I think Howard Jones is one slick musician/producer.  He plays and sings
almost everything on the album and gets a full-sized '80's group sound.
Even though the style of music is a bit bland for my tastes, the sounds
recorded are well-balanced and crystal clear.  There are enough hooks
embedded in the material to get you to play it a few times, but like much
pop music today, the thrill only lasts so long.
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Night -- John Abercrombie

This 1984 release is very reminiscent of John's "Timeless" LP.  With
heavyweights Jan Hammer, Michael Brecker, and Jack DeJohnette, a wide
range of modern styles is explored, from free bag to reggae.  If you've seen
Abercrombie recently (with Marc Johnson and Peter Erskine), don't expect this
album to be similar; it eschews traditional jazz forms without going over the
deep end.
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Champion -- Jeff Berlin and Vox Humana

The former bass player of IOU and Bruford has released his own album of very
fine tunes played by top-notch fusion musicians.  He does enough solos to let
you know that he's a giant on the instrument, but whets the apetite for more
instead of beating it to the ground.  There is a lot of interesting writing
and playing, and the material is predominantly vocal-oriented.
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Misplaced Childhood -- Marillion

Since Genesis doesn't put out Foxtrot-type albums anymore, Marillion has
apparently rushed in to fill the marketing void left.  Listening to this, I
could almost say "this'll do for the time being", but, naah.  They keep on
finding nice-sounding-but-you've-heard-it-before-type 4-chord progressions
then repeating them ad-nauseum underneath boring, obligatory vocal melodies.
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Flash -- Jeff Beck

This is a piecemeal collection of updated rock cuts that is fun to listen to.
While lacking some of the seriousness of previous Beck LP's, his playing is
sounding better than ever to me.  Maybe he works his fingers out by removing
oil-drain plugs without a wrench.
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Crossing -- Oregon

I thought it was just a collection of leftovers (maybe it is) following the
tragic death of Colin Walcott, but this album is full of vibrant colors and
true compositional excursions.  The format is more similar to "Woods" and
"Winter Light" LP's with shorter, more developed pieces, as opposed to their
more improvisational works.  Yet, something emotional is missing this time.
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                                 -etan

                                          ...and stop groveling!
                                                         -God


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